Hauntii
Early on, you can shin up trees to shake down droplets of light, expanding the safely explorable space – a promising idea that never really develops. Stray from lit areas and the picture blurs, as if the shadows are consuming you
The risks associated with videogames’ pursuit of fidelity have only become more evident over the past year. Beyond even the swingeing layoffs, it says much that, despite bringing in more money than Nintendo, Sony trails its rival in profits by some distance.
But it’s not only triple-A where a focus on looks can become a problem. Hauntii’s monochromatic world combines hand-drawn artistry with ethereal grandeur, evoking occasional gasps of wonderment. Yet in placing attention on its aesthetic above all else, it regularly fails at the fundamentals of presenting visual information.